"Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?"

[applepansy]

Over the last several months there has been discussions regarding Christ and if Mormons are Christians. I have been searching for the following joke which I heard on John Bytheway's talk "Jesus Knows I'm a Christian." I finally found it and I think it makes a good point.

so.... here it is:

Jesus said “Whom do men say that I am?

And the disciples answered “Some say that you are John the Baptist returned from the dead, others say Elias, or one of the old prophets.

And Jesus answered and said “But who do Ye say that I am?

Peter answered and said “Thou art the logos, existing in the father as his rationality and then by an act of his will being generated in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation but only on the fact that scripture speaks of a father and a son and a holy spirit each member of the trinity being coequal with every other member and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating with every other member, but an economic subordination within God the division which make the substance no longer simple.

And Jesus answering said “What?”

When you compare this joke with the real scripture an important truth becomes apparent:

The real verse in Matthew 16: 15-17:

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

[JudoMinja]

I love John Bytheway's talks, books, and jokes and I've never heard this one. Guess I need to look this talk up. :)

I like the message in this scripture. There is a clear distinction between the understanding of "man" and the understanding of God. We can get ourselves on the same page as God when we listen to the Spirit and seek out answers in prayer. When we turn to other men for the answers to our questions, we get a great number of possible answers which may have partial truths, no truths, or even the whole truth in them, but their is no way to know for sure who is right or who is wrong.

When I think of the understanding of "man", I often picture a group of scientists all working on research for a particular topic. They all write their papers on their findings and these papers are peer reviewed and evaluated and everyone tries to come to some kind of consensus about what they think is right based on their research and the advice from other "learned" minds. Some agree on one view point, others another and we find some division as each tries to prove their side. Then a "rookie" comes along with some new research that blows all their ideas out of the water and they have to try to put everything together again. While we can certainly learn a lot from "man", no matter how learned or intelligent someone is, they are still looking for the answers just like us.

Why would we turn to someone who is looking for the same answers we are to get our answers, when instead we can take a direct line to the one person who HAS the answers? Instead of getting all confused and muddled about who is right and who is wrong and what is the most accurate representation of the truth, we can ask God. Without God, we would all be lost and confused.

[RipplecutBuddha]

stupid absent laugh button....

[apexviper13]

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."